...“Pretty focused group. We’ve got some great leadership at all the class levels,” Massabesic coach Brooks Bowen said. “They set a goal for themselves, they went to work in the offseason, they never lost sight of what they wanted to accomplish.

“Just so proud of them. It’s easy when you get into some of the rough spots to (say), ‘Well, the goal m gift not be worth it,’ you know? But they never lost sight of that, and here we are.”

The Mustangs (16-0) scored twice in the first five minutes — Skylar Renaud and Morgan Pike had they goals — to take a quick 2-0 lead. Messalonskee’s Ally Turner responded with goals less than a minute apart to tie the game at 2-2. Pike and Logan Champlin each scored to put the Mustangs back in front, 4-2.

Massabesic leaves no doubt this year in Class AThe Mustangs complete a perfect season by avenging a title-game loss to Messalonskee in 2016.

...On Saturday afternoon, the teams met again, and Massabesic kept its foot firmly on the gas pedal, pouring in five unanswered goals in the final 12 minutes to win the Class A state championship 13-4 at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Massabesic Coach Brooks Bowen said. “You don’t ever really feel comfortable. When the momentum shifts in this game, it can be ugly. It’s really hard to get it back.”

The victory capped a perfect season for Massabesic (16-0). Messalonskee finishes 14-2.

...“We have a completely different team, really, than we did last year,” junior midfielder Ally Turner said. “We were just like ‘It’s not the same team, it’s not the same game, and it’s not the same as last year.’ So we just (had) to roll with whatever punches come at us and just do our best out there.”

Turner was just speaking the truth. The Messalonskee team that won the state championship was a veteran group, a team of seniors and talented underclassmen that conquered every challenge thrown at it. This spring’s team was a team in transition with enough talent to compete right away, but that ultimately was missing the senior presence that had proven invaluable a spring ago.

Given that backdrop, coach Crystal Leavitt was far from disappointed in the loss — and far from discouraged about the team’s future.